Hey, this is Ciderhelm and welcome to the Vainglory hero spotlight, Today we will be looking at Beldar a feeble caterpillar larva with the potential to become something greater.

Beldar is one of the numerous spiritual creatures within the forest. Their jobs were to pollinate the flora and ensure that balance was maintained within the Wild (the force of vitality in nature that bonded to magic). Where the wind goes, so is the Wild.

Beldar and his many siblings would spend their youth preying on smaller animals to build up their bulk before finally setting up a place to weave their cocoons. They then emerged in their mature butterfly forms, metamorphized into the new spirits of the forest and giving back to nature.

When their time came they would lay eggs and transfer their spirit into the clutch of eggs they laid, before slowly falling to the ground, ready to be recycled by the Wild. Another eon later and the eggs would hatch with Beldar and his family starting the cycle anew. For some unknown time, this ageless cycle continued in peace and harmony.

All the creatures of the forest paid respect to the gentle arbiters of their habitat. For a time, all seemed well.

Than foreign people not of the forest started coming in, cutting down the trees, strip-mining the crystals and minerals, and bringing the corrupting Churn behind their heels. Some creatures had weapons of rock, heat, and energy. Other similar creatures used tools of rock and arcane magic but they all craved what the forest had but gave nothing in return. These humans sought the Well of Power.

Beldar and his siblings tried their best to expel the intruders to prevent them from destroying the balance of the Wild, but they were still weak and feeble larvae. The foreigners in their cruelty unleashed weapons of heat and light that burned and charred everything in their path.

Many of Beldar’s dearest family members screamed as they roasted in the conflagration. Beldar could only observe in silent horror as he fled, his heart full of anguish for the destruction of his kin hearing the screaming of the roasting caterpillars.

There was no other creature like him anymore. For the first time, Beldar was alone and away from home. Beldar now seeks the magic emanating from the other Wells of Power hoping to gain enough power so he may one day return, more powerful than before, repel the foreigners, restore the forest and protect the Wild as was his sacred ancestral charge. For there was no one left but him.

On the Rise, Beldar is a weak melee laner early game with fairly feeble abilities that causes him to struggle against most opponents. However, once he undergoes metamorphosis into his ultimate form, Beldar gains a powerful new set of abilities that allow her to swarm the competition.

Beldar’s HEROIC PERK is Eggxecute

When Beldar is KILLED within 3 meters of an Enemy Hero who is below 100-400 health (Level 1-12) he automatically latches onto them, then instantly EXECUTES them, bursting out of their body REVIVING with 75% of his max health and in Caterpillar Form after 3 seconds.

This ability STARTS ON COOLDOWN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MATCH.

This perk can only be activated every 100 SECONDS. The cool-down for this ability is displayed as a White Bar below his energy bar

If Beldar successfully completes his ULTIMATE, he evolves into his Butterfly Form, granting him an entirely NEW set of abilities and ranged basic attacks.

Evolved Heroic Perk Bonus

Beldar’s RANGED Basic Attacks deal 130% of his bonus crystal power against enemy heroes who are ASLEEP.

BASE STATS (Level 1-12)

HEALTH: 646-2268
ENERGY: 230-960

WEAPON (MELEE) : 78-180
WEAPON (RANGED) 65-140

ATTACK SPEED: 100%-124%

ARMOR: 20-50
SHIELD: 20-50

RANGE: 1.4
MOVE SPEED: 3.4

Beldar’s FIRST ABILITY is Silk Snare

Beldar fires out a strand of sticky silk that hits the first enemy in its path, dealing crystal damage and SLOWING them by 20% for 2 seconds. Enemies near the damaged enemy are also SLOWED.

this ability can be recast 2 additional times within 2 seconds before going on cooldown.

If an enemy hero is hit by Silk Snare 3 times, they are SNARED for 1.5 seconds.

Cooldown: 14s/13s/12s/11s/9s

Energy Cost: 70/80/90/100/120

Range: 10/10/10/10/10

Damage: 20/40/80/120/160 Crystal Ratio: 50%

Beldar’s SECOND ABILITY is Toxic Spittle

Beldar fires a projectile in the target direction that deals crystal damage to the first enemy it impacts.

If Toxic Spittle hits a target that is Poisoned, it applies a MORTAL WOUND for 2 seconds.

Passive: Enemies who basic attack Beldar become Poisoned, taking crystal damage over 3 seconds. The damage increases each time Beldar is attacked. The duration of the Poison is refreshed by Beldar’s basic attacks.

Cooldown: 10s/9s/8s/7s/5s

Energy Cost: 90/90/90/90/90

Range: 7/7/7/7/9

Damage: 45/85/125/165/205Crystal Ratio: 105%

Poison Damage: 5/20/35/50/65 Crystal Ratio: 25%

Beldar’s ULTIMATE is Chrysalis

PASSIVE: Chrysalis has NO cooldown but can only be activated after Beldar has acquired 100 Morph stacks. The number of stacks collected is displayed on the ability icon in place of the cooldown timer. Each minion and jungle monster Beldar kills grants 5 Morph stacks while Unique Hero kills grant 10 Morph Stacks

ACTIVE: Beldar stops in place and CHANNELS for 3 seconds weaving himself a cocoon. While spinning his cocoon, Beldar generates fortified health each second and gains temporary BONUS HEALTH for the duration of the ULTIMATE which scales with his bonus crystal power. After the channeling ends, Beldar enters into his Cocoon Form.

The channeling for this ability becomes UNINTERRUPTABLE after 1.5 seconds.

While in Cocoon Form, Beldar cannot be DISPLACED but cannot use items, abilities, or basic attacks.

After 3 seconds of successfully surviving in Cocoon Form, Beldar emerges now in his Butterfly Form, granting him 6.4-meter RANGED basic attacks and a completely new set of abilities and ULTIMATE.

Energy Cost: 300/300/300

Fortified Health per Second: 120/240/320

Bonus Health: 200/300/400 Crystal Ratio: 300%

BUTTERFLY FORM ABILITIES

Beldar’s FIRST EVOLVED ABILITY is Butterfly Effect

Beldar flaps her wings generating a gust of wind that damages enemies. This ability has can be RECAST a second time within 1.5 seconds for a different effect that also damages enemies.

Beldar’s SECOND EVOLVED ABILITY is Noctis Powder

Beldar spawns a poisonous cloud at the target location that deals continuous crystal damage to enemies caught inside. If enemies do not escape the cloud in 2.6 seconds they fall ASLEEP for 2 seconds. Clouds last for 5 seconds before dissipating but EMPOWERED Clouds last only 2 seconds

If Beldar casts Noctis Powder on an already existing cloud, it will stop putting enemies to sleep but deal EMPOWERED crystal damage instead. An EMPOWERED CLOUD cannot be DISPLACED.

The first cast of Butterfly Effect will cause Noctis Powder to DRIFT in the target direction. If a drifting Noctis Powder overlaps with a preexisting Noctis Powder, they will deal EMPOWERED crystal damage instead.

Cooldown: 12s/11s/10s/9s/6s

Energy: 220/220/220/220/320

Range: 4/4/4/4/4

Damage/sec: 50/95/135/175/225Crystal Ratio: 100%

Empowered Damage/sec: 150/200/250/300/400Crystal Ratio: 160%

Beldar’s EVOLVED ULTIMATE is Vibrant Swarm

Beldar becomes briefly UNTARGETABLE as she disperses into a swarm of small butterflies. The butterflies deal continuous crystal damage to all enemies inside the swarm. The butterfly swarm MOVES TOGETHER as a group in response to the user’s move commands, but cannot use basic attacks, abilities, and items. After the ULTIMATE’s duration ends, the butterfly swarm reconstitutes back into Beldar’s Butterfly Form at the swarm’s current location. Each rank in the ultimate increases the number of butterflies in the swarm

Thanks for watching the Beldar Hero Spotlight, Vainglory is currently running in Alpha testing on PC, Please visit our website and social media for more information, and see you on the Rise.

Anyway, let’s have a look. I like it a lot. A very unique form change that utilises both the Ult and the Passive to activate. A lot of possible combos (A+B caterpillar form, B+A butterfly form, B+B butterfly form, A+A+A caterpillar form, B+B passive caterpillar form, Ult+Passive) Wow. That is a lot. The complications could be interesting.

I don’t have much criticisms here. This is a really well designed hero. The amount of CC he has could be a little OP, but then he can’t activate all of it at once. The caterpillar form B might be a little OP (I’m thinking constant Catherine B) but then if it does skaarf burn level damage it’s fine. Also its cooldown needs to be higher, or that’s a simple 2s mortal wound every 3s I like the Butterfly form ult a lot, especially with the way you have to kill all butterflies to kill him.

Just one question: If Beldar dies in Butterfly form, does he respawn in caterpillar form?

Anyway, let’s have a look. I like it a lot. A very unique form change that utilises both the Ult and the Passive to activate. A lot of possible combos (A+B caterpillar form, B+A butterfly form, B+B butterfly form, A+A+A caterpillar form, B+B passive caterpillar form, Ult+Passive) Wow. That is a lot. The complications could be interesting.

I don’t have much criticisms here. This is a really well designed hero. The amount of CC he has could be a little OP, but then he can’t activate all of it at once. The caterpillar form B might be a little OP (I’m thinking constant Catherine B) but then if it does skaarf burn level damage it’s fine. Also its cooldown needs to be higher, or that’s a simple 2s mortal wound every 3s I like the Butterfly form ult a lot, especially with the way you have to kill all butterflies to kill him.

Just one question: If Beldar dies in Butterfly form, does he respawn in caterpillar form?

Seriously though, a lot of well-done stuff here.

The reason I gave Toxic Spittle a 3-second cooldown is that Beldar is caterpillar form is melee and it’s his primary damage source. But I have increased the cooldown across all ranks from 10/9/8/7/5.5

This hero is in butterfly form is going to be the first mage with no large bursts of damage only damage over time.

Onto the ultimate, a lot of the feedback I got was that it would compromise game performance as the game will have to keep track of every single butterfly. So I’m planning to change it.

There are 3 ways I could go about changing the evolved ultimate.

I could either

Keep the ULTIMATE as it is but decreases the number of butterflies dramatically in the ultimate. So a maximum of like 8 or 10 at rank 3.

I could make the little butterfly’s a single large swarm without individual units which can still be moved via move commands and deal bonus damage to enemies inside Noctis powder. I would also decrease the duration of the ultimate. Change the ultimate so that when you activate it Beldar dissipates into a swarm of butterflies before reappearing after 0.5 seconds leaving behind the swarm of butterflies that deals DOT which increases if enemies are standing in his Noctis Powder.

I could make the little butterfly’s a single large swarm without individual units which can still be moved via move commands and deal bonus damage to enemies inside Noctis powder. I would also decrease the duration of the ultimate. Change the ultimate so that when you activate it Beldar dissipates into a swarm of butterflies that don’t deal any damage. When the ultimate ends, Beldar reappears and the Butterfly Swarm becomes a Noctis Powder.

Also yes if Beldar dies in Butterfly form he respawns as Caterpillar form.

Not really a balancing issue, but a caterpillar in real life is quite slow and it would be quite a challenge to make him move naturally.

to be more True to life, the difference between caterpillar and butterfly should include a difference in move speed as well. Maybe from 3.1 to 3.4… or 3.2 to 3.5… numbers can be changed to suit, so this is from an visual stance, not balancing… but could be balanced easily i think.

Maybe set Vibrant Swarm to have a move speed boost? since it is the ULT it should be able to effect all heroes right? Flicker being the fastest at 3.7, maybe make it the same as that.

Either way you decide to do it, i think there should be a noticeable difference between both forms.

Maybe set Vibrant Swarm to have a move speed boost? since it is the ULT it should be able to effect all heroes right? Flicker being the fastest at 3.7, maybe make it the same as that.

Either way, you decide to do it, I think there should be a noticeable difference between both forms.

Would you kindly mind looking over the hero idea again? I’ve changed some things about the hero and I want to make sure you are up to date.

I don’t quite understand that part of your questions could you please clarify?

I don’t quite feel that giving Beldar’s base form a 3.1 move-speed would really be good as he already struggles heavily early game with low melee attack range, no real escapes and no passive to help him out. Which is why I gave him a 3.4 move speed. I understand the need to ground some of the hero into realism but would the move animation really look that weird? I’m unsure about the changes you proposed. I mean it makes sense but it feels kinda fluffy.

well, yeah I totally agree that his movespeed needs to be decent for the early game. which is why I simply put a few suggestions and let you decide how you want to implement it into your hero design.

He does have a melee attack range, which only changes after completing is ULT. which is why I said that it isn’t from a balance perspective, but rather from an animation / realism stand point.

Don’t be changing it too much. it’s ok to keep the original stats, fine tuning is always very difficult without testing, which i totally understand, which is why i always try not to be too critical about numbers.

it’s fine the way it is / was / gonna be. it’s just numbers. The overall hero idea is solid, and that’s what counts.

What do you think of his biography? I’m asking this from everyone I can because I want to improve my lore skills if I ever decide to write lore that expands on my hero ideas and how they fit into the world of SEMC. (since SEMC lore is now but a trickle)

Maybe by reading the Vainglory Lore in it’s entirety from beggining to end, you’ll pick up a few tips on what makes a good story, seeing that you want to improve on your Lore writing skills.

But for the most part, this hero’s biography is clear cut and to the point, sets the scene very well and the reason why he’s fighting.

Creative writing is quite hard to do. Adding suspense and not revealing too much is a matter of having quite a large vocabulary of words to use and using them in very creative ways. You can over decribe, not decribe enough, give too much personality, not enough. etc.

Good on you for wanting to improve your Lore writing. But I wonder if I’m of any help to you… I haven’t written anything of that fictional nature…

This is a really massive kit, so I’m gonna keep the nitpicks out of it (not that I have many).

Concerned over how the ult works (The cocooning one). You don’t really have to earn your butterfly form (CD based). It would seem kind of cheap to have a Butterfly die, come back as a worm through explosion and then instantly cocoon. I would propose that the ult should have some sort of charging mechanic. S’bout it.

Beldar’s ULTIMATE is Chrysalis

PASSIVE: Chrysalis has NO cooldown but can only be activated after Beldar has acquired 100 Morph stacks. The number of stacks collected is displayed on the ability icon in place of the cooldown timer. Each minion and jungle monster Beldar kills grants 5 Morph stacks while Unique Hero kills grant 10 Morph Stacks

ACTIVE: Beldar stops in place and CHANNELS for 3 seconds weaving himself a cocoon. While spinning his cocoon, Beldar generates fortified health each second and gains temporary BONUS HEALTH for the duration of the ULTIMATE which scales with his bonus crystal power. After the channeling ends, Beldar enters into his Cocoon Form.

The channeling for this ability becomes UNINTERRUPTABLE after 1.5 seconds.

While in Cocoon Form, Beldar cannot be DISPLACED but cannot use items, abilities, or basic attacks.

After 3 seconds of successfully surviving in Cocoon Form, Beldar emerges now in his Butterfly Form, granting him 6.4-meter RANGED basic attacks and a completely new set of abilities and ULTIMATE.

They would be possible to balance, but I worry for the size of the cloud, because the zoning levels might be…
Toxic
Hitbox sizes would either make or break the character so I’d include some sort of comparison.

I’m not sure how big these things are but think of Noctis Powder being approximately the size of Lyra’s sigil or Lorelai’s slow. But it has only a max cast range of 4 meters. The range can be extended if the cloud is blown forward by the first Butterfly Effect Cast.